It’s been nearly a year since Takeoff was fatally shot outside a bowling alley in Houston, Texas. His death rocked the music world and even to this day, it’s still hard to believe he’s gone. The Migos just aren’t the same without him.
Although a suspect has been identified and arrested since the shooting, this murder case is not even close to ending. Since December 2022, Patrick Xavier Clark, the suspect in the case, has said that he will claim self-defense when this case goes to trial and ten months later, he and his attorney are sticking to that story.
Letitia Quinones-Hollins, Clark’s attorney, told Rolling Stone, “He maintains his innocence. We do believe that he has a valid self-defense claim. I don’t think they can say with any degree of certainty that it was Patrick who actually fired the shot that took Takeoff’s life.”
She continued, “There was someone else who started the shooting, it was not Patrick Clark. He was in the same position that Takeoff was in, he was trying to get out of there alive as well. He didn’t have anything to do with the argument that occurred. He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when people started firing weapons.”
So essentially, Clark’s attorney is arguing that her client did shoot Takeoff, but the shots he took are not the ones that killed the Atlanta rapper.
During a December press conference, Houston Police Sgt. Michael Burrow shared the details they learned during their investigation, saying, “There was a lucrative dice game that went on at the event. There was an argument that happened afterward, outside the bowling alley, which led to the shooting.”
He continued, “I can tell you that Takeoff was not involved in playing in the dice game, and he was not involved in the argument that happened outside. He was not armed. He was an innocent bystander.”
That makes Takeoff’s death more frustrating, considering he was allegedly not involved in any conflict but it still led to him losing his life.
Despite many people waiting for the trial to start, it won’t come until the “second half of next year,” according to Rolling Stone. Clark is due to be in court again in January 2024. Until then, he will stay on house arrest.
In the time since his death, Takeoff and Quavo have started to open up about their lost family member. In an August 2023 interview, Offset revealed that he’s still “not healed” after Takeoff’s death.
In a July interview, Quavo said, “I miss him a lot and I love him. He know I love him. That’s what we always know.”
Quavo has also honored Taekoff’s life, by going to Washington D.C. in September and speaking on a Congressional Black Caucus panel about gun reform and meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris.